


Strong Enough

by charmingStrangeness



Series: Sakamoto Week 2017 [1]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Bullying, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, sakamoto week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 00:26:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11242455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmingStrangeness/pseuds/charmingStrangeness
Summary: “Do they… Have they… hurt you before?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.Tatsuma squeezes his eyes shut and nods, and Otome’s heart breaks into a thousand pieces.Written forSakamoto Week 2017Day 1 - Family





	Strong Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Sakamoto Week! I've prepared a fic for each day of the week, somehow, (miraculously), so feel free to check in throughout the week to read more about everyone's favourite goofball space merchant/con man <3
> 
> Since there's exactly zero (0) canon information about Sakamoto Tatsuma's childhood, I did some cursory research on Sakamoto Ryoma (the historical figure Tatsuma gets his name from) and something that came up a few times was that a) he has three sisters (Chizu, Ei, and Otome) and b) one of them enrolled him in kendo lessons because he was being bullied at school. So that was my source of inspiration for this piece. Enjoy!

“Tatsuma, is that you? I didn’t expect to see you here.” 

 Sakamoto Otome watches her younger brother jump up in surprise from where he was crouched on the riverbank.

“Ahaha! Hey sis, whatcha doing?”

“Laundry, obviously.” She jostles the basket of clothes propped against her hip and frowns. He’s blatantly dodged her question, and there’s a hint of nervousness in his laughter… He’s definitely guilty of something.

“Ah well, don’t let me keep you!” Tatsuma takes a step in the direction of the trees, and Otome can tell he’s holding back from running; she can practically see the tension coiled in his muscles, legs ready to burst into a full-out sprint the second he’s out of her sightline.

“Tatsuma, wait!” She snatches his left wrist as he passes her, and he flinches, and that’s when Otome notices that he’s been hiding his right arm this entire time.

“…Tatsuma?”

He wrenches his arm from her grasp. “I’ll see you back at home, sis!” There’s a note of panic in his voice that drives itself straight through Otome’s heart.

Before she can stop herself _(before he can run away)_ , she finds herself blurting out, “Are you okay? What happened?”

Tatsuma freezes, then turns away from Otome so she can’t see his face. “I-it’s nothing, I’m fine.”

Otome sighs. “You’re a terrible liar, idiot little brother.” She reaches out a hand and places it gently on his shoulder. “Show me your arm, Tatsuma.”

Slowly, he turns back around and holds out his arm, although his eyes refuse to meet hers. Otome takes his arm and pushes back his sleeve, then involuntarily lets out a soft gasp when she processes what she’s looking at – a long gash on his forearm, still dripping wet from his attempt to clean it in the river.

“Who did this to you?”

Tatsuma continues to stare at the ground so hard that Otome is shocked he hasn’t begun to burn holes in it yet. “Some guys at school,” he mumbles quietly.

“Do they… Have they… hurt you before?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

Tatsuma squeezes his eyes shut and nods, and Otome’s heart breaks into a thousand pieces.

Without thinking, she drops the laundry basket and pulls her brother into a hug – she holds him tight, presses her cheek into his mess of chestnut curls, rubs a sympathetic hand across his back. Neither sibling speaks for what feels like eternity, and when they finally pull apart, Tatsuma’s eyes are slightly red around the edges (and Otome is positive that hers match his).

“I’ll fix this,” she promises, even though she doesn’t know how. Not that it matters – she’ll find a way.

A sad smile tugs at Tatsuma’s lips. “What are you going to do, sis? Show up at the temple school and beat them up yourself?”

“Well… no…” She clenches her fists as a flame of frustration flares in her chest. “But I’ll find a way somehow!”

“This isn’t… You can’t fix this. I have to fix this.” Tatsuma grits his teeth. “I have to get stronger.”

Otome frowns. “You are strong already.”

“ _Not strong enough!_ That’s why this is even happening at all. It’s all my fault for being too weak,” Tatsuma protests.

“Don’t say stupid things like that!”

“But it’s _true._ ”

“It’s _not,_ ” Otome insists. “Your problem isn’t that you’re too weak, it’s that you’re too stupid to ask for help! Why would you hide this from us? From _me?_ ”

Tatsuma’s bottom lip begins to tremble, and Otome immediately regrets her outburst. “I’m sorry,” she says, taking his hand in hers. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” Tatsuma sniffs, but otherwise doesn’t respond.

Otome wracks her brain for something to say to cheer him up, but it’s difficult; any words of comfort she could offer right now would probably just be rejected. The only thing that would make him feel better now would be if he could defend himself against his bullies… 

“Ah! Tatsuma, I’ve got it!”

“Got what?”

Otome grins. “We’ll register you at the dojo! That way you can learn to fight, and if you can fight back then those kids won’t bother you anymore, right?”

Tatsuma’s eyes brighten a little. “Do… do you think you could?”

“Of course! I’ll talk Mom and Dad into registering you. Just trust me, okay? I’ve got your back.” She gives her brother the best possible reassuring smile she can.

Suddenly, two arms have wrapped themselves around her and are squeezing tight. “Thank you, sis.”

She snakes her own arms around her brother and squeezes him right back. “Next time, don’t be an idiot okay? Tell me when you’re in trouble,” she says, softly.

“I just… I didn’t want to bother you with my stupid problems,” Tatsuma admits quietly.

Otome breaks out of the hug and casually flicks Tatsuma square in the forehead.

“Ouch!”

“You’re not a burden, stupidhead,” she admonishes. “Besides, I’m strong enough to carry your troubles too, okay?”

Tatsuma rubs his forehead and smiles.

“Yeah. Okay.” 

**Author's Note:**

> [muffled 'he's not heavy he's my brother' in the distance]
> 
> Any lingering thoughts or questions? Feel free to leave a comment, or come drop in on tumblr @ [charmingstrangeness](http://charmingstrangeness.tumblr.com)
> 
> Tune in tomorrow for Day 2!


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